By: Rudy Lu
The weather was windy. Heavy thunderstorms were forecast. So Jazz on Jay was wisely moved indoors to the GE Theater.
Marcus Benoit is a versatile musician having played in Soul, Blues, Rockabilly as well as Jazz. He brought his veteran quartet to play music that these musicians have played many times in many settings be they cocktail lounges, concert halls or private parties.
“Just like we practiced it” was the buzzword for this set. The truth was they haven’t practiced together at all!
Nevertheless, this quartet of local musicians delivered a 90 minute set of standards and pop tunes that made the audience temporarily forget the world of problems outside the theater.
Opening with a tune many who are not Jazz fans have heard but not necessarily known, Horace Silver’s “Song for My Father”, the band set the audience’s expectations. This tune’s riffs were used in Steey Dan’s “Ricki Don’t Lose That Number. Benoit played the melody line with his tenor sax, with Joe Finn playing a melodic solo with Pete Toigo and Michael Benedict adding their tasteful solo phrasing to the language.
This was the pattern set for the set.
The standard, “All The Things You Are”followed with Benoit again playing the melody with his tenor and everybody else playing on cue.
The pace was changed by slowing things down with Miles Davis’ “All Blues”, the best selling Jazz album of all time . Marcus changed to flute. The fact is that the entire album was recorded without rehearsal. A subtle yet dynamic drum solo by Mike Benedict was the feature of the piece.
Dizzy Gillespie’s “NIght In Tunisia” followed complete with its exotic rhythms and themes that send the listeners sonically off to a far away land with shifting sand dunes and swirling winds. Michael Benedict again set the mood with mallets on his drum kit.
The band pivoted to 1940s NYC street scene by a tune penned by Herbie Hancock made famous by him in the early 60s, retooled to incorporate African influence in the 70s and covered by many artists “Watermelon Man”.
The pop music theme continued with Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly”, a mainstay of pop music from the 70s.
John Coltrane’s “Equinox” followed with its melodic bass lines beautifully played by Pete Toigo and the ensemble.
Cannonball Adderly’s 1966 hit “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” was covered, followed by Dina Washington’s late 50’s hit “What A Difference A Day Makes”.
The finale was the recently passed Sonny Rollins calypso themed “St. Thomas” that made you wish you were there. Joe Finn’s melodic guitar was featured .
This was a truly broad survey of bop and pop based Jazz curated to entertain a noontime audience.
Thanks to Lannea Bailey and the entire Proctor’s Collaborative team and sponsors for making this series possible as well as the sponsors.
